skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Could Indiana See Net Metering Come to an End?

play audio
Play

Monday, March 27, 2017   

INDIANAPOLIS – State lawmakers are getting an earful about legislation that would phase out the financial incentives given to homeowners, businesses, schools and churches that install solar panels.

Senate Bill 309 would overhaul the practice of net metering, which allows those with solar panels to feed their excess power into the grid and get credit on their power bill.

Former U.S. Rep. Barry Goldwater Jr. of California, now a consultant, testified against the legislation, saying it would slow renewable energy development in Indiana to a crawl.

"We are burning up a resource that we could very well be using for something else, and especially if you have a substitute like the sun,” he points out. “Why do you want to fight the sun? It sits there every day. Why not utilize it?"

Backers of the bill say it would help businesses increase energy efficiency and promote biomass energy production from animal and bacterial waste. It was debated in committee for more than six hours last week, and could come up for a vote this week.

Republican state Rep. Ron Bacon is against the legislation. He says it would dramatically reduce incentives for people to go solar – and he has 96 solar panels installed on his home.

"Would essentially shut the industry down, because it's just not to the point yet where it can sustain itself,” he stresses. “But we still need to continue to subsidize it, because we want incentivize people to do it and get them off the coal-fired electricity plants and things of that nature, as much as possible."

State Rep. Mike Speedy, also a Republican, is on the Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications Committee. He maintains eliminating net metering would limit consumer choice and discourage solar installers and investments in the state.

"It's not even in its infancy here in Indiana, yet investor-owned utilities are trying to show it the door," he states.

Solar power provides only about 1 percent of the country's energy, but is growing rapidly.

The U.S. Energy Department says employment in the solar industry has increased 125 percent since 2010.





get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021